Get Healthy or Pay Up

Are you ready for your company to monitor your lifestyle? Soaring healthcare costs have employers making workers pay for their unhealthy practices. Smoking is one habit under scrutiny, as is non-participation in wellness programs and screenings. On the positive side, a many companies reward the rank-and-file for clean living. A healthier workforce is more productive and less likely to have problems with absenteeism. While many firms care about employees, the driving factor here is the bottom line. "Despite reform, organizations still face rising costs and worsening population health," says John Zern, a health and benefits practice leader with Aon Hewitt. "It's clear that traditional annual trend mitigation tactics alone won't work. As a result, leading employers are implementing a 'house money, house rules' environment, using a mix of incentives, penalties and targeted messaging to reward healthy behaviors." More than 1,025 employers nationwide took part in the research. For more about the survey, click here.